The Mech Touch

Tristan's continued discussions with Professor Galbraith benefited the former a lot.

Even if the topics under discussion weren't always pleasant to hear, the university professor meant well and genuinely wanted the younger mech designer to come away with a better understanding of mechs as well as himself.

Thankfully, the products of Sileena Dynamics did not have to occupy Tristan's view for long. The column of pink and girly mechs finally turned a corner and moved out of sight.

A larger procession came next. These mechs adopted a blue and purple theme with cosmetic lighting that made them look advanced and futuristic.

One of the common properties that made these mechs stand out from the crowd was by the thinness of their exterior layers.

"These mechs are awfully fragile." Tristan noted.

The blue and purpose mechs did not stubbornly try to cut down their weight in order to make them look more feminine. Instead, their lines and contours all looked sensible and optimal.

It was just that the designers did not have much armor to work with. It was as if a mech designer received a request to design a mech but with half the armor allowance than normal for a mech of a specific archetype.

How could a light mech operate if a light touch could breach their armor?

How could a knight mech shield more fragile mechs from attacks if it couldn't endure them for a long time?

There was no way a mech company would be stupid enough to publish mechs that possessed exceptionally poor defensive attributes. This was especially the case when Tristan was able to figure out that the mechs down below were designed by a Master!

"Ah. I think I get it now." Tristan put down his empty tea cup. "These mechs aren't designed to resist damage with their armor. They are designed to resist attacks by using active defenses! They should be equipped with much more powerful shield generators than average!"

Professor Galbraith actually took the initiative to clap. "Well done, Tristan. It may have taken you longer than you should have to draw this conclusion, but it is a correct one. Renewal Tech & Design is a mech company that Master Manuel Terrence founded years ago in Davute. I am not surprised that you do not know of it and its products. This is actually the first instance where RT&D has unveiled its products in full public view."

That showed that Renewal did not follow the crowd by releasing lots of mech models in order to capture market share at an early stage.

Instead, the company chose to delay its market entry by continuing to focus on research and development. It must have taken numerous hard years to develop practical shield generators that satisfied the high requirements of Davute.

Tristan focused his attention on Renewal's chief designer. "I have heard the name of Master Manuel Terrence a few times before. Isn't he a professor at the Davute University of Technology?"

The DUT was the most premier teaching institution for mech design and other hard sciences. Anyone who was able to gain a full-time teaching position over there was definitely a major leader in Davute's technology sector!

A look of genuine respect appeared on Professor Zin Galbraith's face. "That is correct. Master Terrence is an authority in the field of energy shield technology. He is one of the few rare defensive specialists who has decided to go against the prevailing trend and base the defenses of his mechs around active systems as opposed to passive systems. Davute had to work hard to win him over and persuade him to settle his operations in this port system."

That caused Tristan to develop a different understanding of Master Terrence.

"Is he that good?"

"It is not necessarily a question of whether he is an excellent Master Mech Designer. What makes him so highly valued by many different groups in the Red Ocean is his deep mastery of energy shield technology. You must have learned that the native alien species of the Red Ocean tend to base their defenses around transphasic energy-based defenses. The existence of phasewater has made this much more effective than armor-based defenses to the natives. While this may have caused their development of resilient alloys to stagnate, their technological advances in the field of energy shields and transphasic energy shields are impressive."

The former Fridayman mech designer comprehended the situation surrounding this important Master.

"I think I understand now." Tristan said as he studied the mechs marching down below. "Master Manuel Terrence is a prize to any state that wants to imitate the defensive paradigms of alien war machines. The existence of elite starfighters equipped with absurdly effective transphasic shield generators show that it is viable for humanity to impart the same advantages to mechs. I bet that every state is working towards the same goal."

The blue and purple mechs marching towards the other end of the street represented a new trend in mechs.

Back in the old galaxy, most second-rate states favored mechs that relied on solid and dependable armor systems to make them last in battle.

Although humanity had substantially managed to improve its utilization of energy shields throughout the ages, it had always been considered a rather costly and troublesome means to defend an area from damage.

They were mainly used to protect warships, structures and cities from damage. Space was not that big of a constraint in these circumstances so it was easy enough for engineers to develop big and heavy devices that projected powerful energy shields by relying on brute force.

It didn't quite work that well for mechs because shield generators lost a lot of effective strength when they had to be shrunk to the point where they could be slotted into a mech frame.

Anyone who tried to develop more effective mech-grade energy shield generators had to fight an uphill battle!

The insane physical constraints of traditional shield generators had always caused this tech to remain stuck as an auxiliary defensive measure to the mechs that could afford to integrate these energy-hungry systems.

They were a lot more effective at the first-class level, but the cost of making them multiplied by several orders of magnitude, making them completely unaffordable for any second-class mechs aside from maybe ace mechs!

Professor Galbraith looked envious when he thought about all of the benefits that the prominent energy shield specialist received.

"When Davute managed to attract Master Manuel Terrence's services, he immediately started a new and extremely well-funded research group within the Davute University of Technology. Much of the research that takes place there is classified, but it is not much of a secret that he is working together with multiple renowned and authoritative mech designers, scientists and engineers with relevant skills and specialists."

This was a major government-funded effort, and one that took place right underneath many people's noses.

"I never realized that Davute is investing so much in building up its competences in adapting alien energy shield technology." Tristan uttered.

"Davute is making a strong bet by supporting this initiative." Professor Galbraith said. "There is only so much funding and phasewater that Davute can allocate to research initiatives. By providing so much state support to the secret research group that is chiefly responsible for advancing our colonial state's application of energy shields and transphasic energy shields, our research sector cannot allocate as much resources to other applications of phasewater. For example, the development of superdrives and minidrives in our state is merely keeping pace with the progress of the overall pace of development in human-occupied space in the Red Ocean."

That was useful to know.

"Is Karlach working to develop its own powerful energy shield tech?"

"Most definitely. It would be an incredibly strategic blunder if the leaders of Karlach failed to put any emphasis on adapting and improving alien energy shield technology. However, Karlach is also keeping its cards close to its chest. We do not know how much progress they have made and what they have done to make their version of energy shields more effective than the norm."

Tristan scratched his head and gestured down below. "Aren't we revealing too much information about our progress by parading the mechs of Renewal Tech & Design? They are blatantly showing themselves off to a wide audience!"

"What you see is only the tip of the iceberg. RT&D is a pure commercial vehicle for Master Terrence. With the support and compensation that he has managed to extract from Davute, there is no urgent need for him to earn revenue by selling mechs. The RT&D mechs that are marching down the streets are mostly designed to introduce the concept of energy shield mechs to the regional mech community. Pioneers and mech pilots must learn how to work around their strengths and limitations in reality. The new commercial mechs have deliberately been stripped of thicker armor for that reason."

It was a good scheme. As long as groups began to field these energy shield mechs in battle, they would not only accrue valuable experience, but also generate highly realistic test data that RT&D could utilize to refine its more advanced applications of this powerful tech.

"Does Renewal sell any mechs equipped with genuine transphasic shield generators?" Tristan asked.

He did not expect this to be the case, but Professor Galbraith actually gave a different answer.

"It is not as simple as it appears. Let me give you another piece of insider information. The commercial mechs designed under the supervision of Master Manuel Terrance are equipped with conventional shield generators, though they are much more sophisticated than the models that you can find in the old galaxy. What is special about them is that they come with a standardized modular interface for shield generators."

Tristan understood how remarkable that could be! "You mean that customers can pick and choose what sort of shield generators they want to put into specific mechs?"

"Exactly. If a customer or client is willing to supply enough phasewater, they can pay RT&D to supply them with transphasic shield generators that can readily be inserted into the modular slots of existing mechs. The mech ecosystem designed by Master Terrence is completely centered around the interchangeability and universal compatibility of mechs and shield generators!"

What a fantastic business model! Every customer had different needs, and their demands also changed over time.

A middling mercenary outfit might start off with purchasing mechs equipped with ordinary shield generators.

Once they started to complete a lot of missions and develop the desire to tackle more interesting challenges, the mercenaries might decide to equip the mechs piloted by their officers and champions with more powerful transphasic shield generators.

The abundance of choice and the low technical requirements to swap the shield generators provided a lot of convenience to customers!

However, Tristan recognized that there may be a possible flaw to RT&D's business model.

"Are there any immediate practical advantages to make use of Renewal energy shield-based mechs as opposed to the armor-based mechs employed by everyone else? I do not know if mech pilots want to entrust their lives to machines that can lose their energy shields if the internal systems of their machines malfunction due to various reasons."

"It takes less materials to construct an energy shield mech." Professor Galbraith explained. "Armor is the greatest expense of a mech, that is common sense. The high amount of exotics required to produce highly damage-resistant alloys imposes an enormous burden to a state. If Davute can reduce the amount of tough materials used to produce mechs by 30 percent, then it can allocate those resources to produce tougher carriers at greater quantities."

This was one of the biggest reasons why Davute developed an enthusiasm for energy shield mechs!

Although the production of conventional shield generators imposed a higher demand on medium and high-grade exotics, it was still a lot easier for a state to meet these needs.

If energy shield mechs became practical, effective and reliable enough to replace armor mechs, then that might trigger a massive revolution in the Red Ocean's mech community!